Complaint Against Tammy Baldwin Unanimously Rejected

by Jordan Rubenstein · 2010-07-23 10:30:00 UTC
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Most politicians use their home address as their address when submitting nomination papers. But for some politicians, that isn’t so easy. Tammy Baldwin, one of three openly gay members of Congress, has received threats since she was first elected to Congress in 1998.

Baldwin was given permission to use her campaign office as her address due to threats of violence. She submitted homophobic and threatening emails she had received for approval to keep her home address off the documents. The U.S. Capitol police did a threat assessment on Baldwin’s home and office and recommended that she keep her personal address off the records. Since then, when Baldwin has submitted nomination papers to the state, they’ve included her campaign office address instead of her home address.

Until now, this hasn’t caused her any problems. But the Young Republicans of Dane County are fighting against this decision. The group claims that Baldwin shouldn’t be allowed on the ballot because her campaign office is listed as her address instead of her voting address.

The complaint was rejected because state election officials have allowed Baldwin to keep her voting address private. The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board unanimously rejected the complaint. Baldwin has been cleared to run for her 7th two-year term in the House.

But will she be faced to battle absurd claims from homophobes every time she runs again? How can anyone object to her keeping her personal address private when she’s received physical threats?

Surely a group’s political objections to a candidate don’t justify attacking her ability to run safely. It would be understandable for the Young Republicans of Dane County to raise money in support of Republican candidates in attempt to prevent Baldwin from being elected. But their complaint was truly disrespectful. They should back off and fight fair.

Every candidate should be able to run without fear of physical violence. Baldwin has received threats that have been verified by the government. Isn’t that more than enough reason for her to keep her personal address private?

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Jordan Rubenstein is the former president of Carnegie Mellon University's LGBT student organization, ALLIES. Jordan lives in New York City.
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